Dbtel preps iPod-like phone

White, MP3-playing M50 even driven by clickwheel

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How soon will it be before Taiwanese handset maker Dbtel has Apple's lawyers knocking on its door? If images appearing on the web are indeed of its upcoming M50 phone, it's hard to image the iPod maker not taking an interest.

The M50, shown in all its glory on Chinese-language site PhoneDaily, does not only sport a bright white colour scheme but also a clickwheel. If Apple were to make an iPod-based phone, it would surely look something like the M50.

According to the site, the device measures 9.9 x 4.5 x 1.8cm and weighs 80g. The display is a 176 x 220, 262,000-colour job. On the back, there's a two-megapixel digicam with a 16x digital zoom and an LED light. Unsurprisingly, the device plays MP3 files, along with MPEG 4 and 3GPP video content. It's got 64-voice polyphonic ringtone support too.

The M50 will apparently ship with 16MB of memory on board, but that can be increased by plugging in an RS-MMC card. Its got a 730mAh battery, the website claims, capable of providing 210 minutes' call time.

There's no keypad: numbers are selected using the clickwheel and the central button, both of which are also used to navigate around the phone's menu icons. Four other buttons, place around the wheel, activate specific functions.

The report suggests the M50 may ship this week, though there's nothing on Dbtel's own website, even in its upcoming phone section. ®